Meeting The Bird Girls
by showtunediva
Summary: This is an excerpt from my current collaboration with TheCat'sApprentice19 (Sophie) An Actress's Dream. Complete story will be on her profile. In this story my original character Demi who is an aspiring performer is transported to Nool where she gets advice from the Bird Girls. Dedicated to Michelle Emmond.
1. Meeting The Bird Girls

**Chapter 3: Meeting the Bird Girls**

Hi Everyone! A little background before you read this chapter. I was recently in a community production of Seussical The Musical as a Who and Demi is my original character's name. My production had seven bird girls in it. I tried to keep the ages of the bird girls relatively consistent with the ages of my cast mates. This story is dedicated to my castmate Michelle Emmond who always gives me awesome advice on play auditions and her character's name in this story is Zoe. This chapter was recently edited by Sophie (TheCat'sApprentice19) and I feel it flows a lot better than the original version. Sophie and I are having a lot of fun writing this and we hope you the readers are equally enjoying reading it. ~Janine

Once Demi and Gertrude entered Gertrude's house, Demi was relieved to sit down and rest.

"You must have had quite the trip," Gertrude said.

Demi nodded. "I certainly did. I can't believe I'm in Nool. Much less that Kirsty transported me here."

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"I'm feeling a little light headed, so orange juice would be great. Thank you." Demi smiled warmly at her hostess, who quickly left the room, to come back shortly after with two drinks.

"So have the other jungle creatures been giving Horton a hard time since he found our clover?"

Gertrude nodded. "Yes. I feel awful for him. Once the citizens of the jungle meet you then they'll see that that Whos really do exist we could find a way for both our kinds to exist together as one."

That's wonderful, but I don't think I can really stay for a very long time. I have family and friends back home," Demi explained. "Also, I don't want to cause too much of a fuss around here. I think I should be keeping a low profile for the time being, to avoid any complicated questions."

Understanding the situation, she smiled gently. "I understand that. You will stay for a few days though won't you? I do get pretty lonely sometimes and you must want to know what this entire world has to offer."

Demi nodded. "Of course. I want to learn my way around the jungle, bring back everything back to Who. It would mean so much to everyone." Taking a sip of her drink, something came to her. "Gertrude, I have to ask you something, why is everyone else being so cruel to Horton?"

"Who knows…?" Sighing, she continued. "I guess it must be a bit too crazy for them to believe, and they don't really understand how he feels about saving you guys. Speaking of Who, how are things in Whoville?"

"Absolutely terrible. So many families have split apart because of the batter battle, not to mention the cutting of the Truffula trees and the rough stability of our entire planet."

Gertrude nodded. "Horton told me about that. It doesn't seem like the war makes a lot of sense. What difference does it make if people eat their bread butter side up?"

Demi shrugged her shoulders. "None of us really understand that either." Suddenly, Demi noticed the loud amount of Latin music that was pulsating her ears. Loudly, she asked her bird friend. "Where in the world is that music coming from?"

"Those girls are going to make everyone else deaf if they keep this up." Shutting the windows, before rolling her eyes, she explained. "Mayzie lives in the tree across from me. She's a lead singer in the most popular girl group in Nool. She lives in this huge penthouse apartment, and shares it with her seven backup singers. They're Zoe, Scarlet, Skye, Orla, Tia, Jessica, and Evie."

"What's she like?"

Gertrude shrugs. "She can be a little obnoxious, but I try not to let it bother me too much. You should see her tail! It's so beautiful, long and colorful. Unlike mine…"

As Gertrude gestured to her one feathered tail, Demi raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with your tail? I think it's lovely!"

"Well, it's just so average and plain. I really want to be noticed... especially by Horton."

That name made Demi stop in her tracks. Was this what she thought it was? "Horton?"

Gertrude looked at her house guest shyly before whispering. "Well, you see, I have feelings for Horton... romantic ones."

Demi's eyes grew wide. "Really?"

Gertrude nodded, looking a tad embarrassed.

"Have you told him?"

Gertrude sighed. "No, I'm too afraid to such a bold thing like that."

"And do you think that having a long feathered tail like Mayzie's will get him to notice you?" Demi asked.

"That's what I'm hoping." She said simply, looking hopeful. On the other side of the table, Demi wasn't so sure about that.

"Anyway, would you mind introducing me to Mayzie and the Bird Girls? They seem really interesting!"

"Sure thing! We could do it first thing tomorrow morning if you'd like."

The next morning there was a knock on the door. Opening it, Gertrude saw that it was one of the Bird Girls.

"Hi Gertrude. I wanted to bring over something for your guest, just a small welcome gift."

Gertrude smiled, giving the girl a hug. "That's so nice of you Tia. Please, come on in, and I'll introduce you to her."

Demi, who had just woken up, looked up from her morning coffee to see a girl bird standing next to Gertrude, who looked about her age.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you," she said. "I'm Tia. I'm one of Mayzie's backup singers. Gertrude told me that she had a guest staying with her, so I bought you some apple cake, just a welcome from us girls."

Demi smiled, standing up from her seat. "It's nice to meet you too, Tia. I'm Demi. How old are you?"

"23."

"Really? That's pretty close to my age." Demi was shocked.

"Wow! What a coincidence." Tia added, sitting down at the table.

"So, I heard you're in a singing group. Who are the other Bird Girls?" Demi asked

"There's seven of us. My sister Jessica is 18. Then, there's Evie, the youngest at 16, Orla, who is 25 and the three eldest girls, Skye Zoe and Scarlet, who is Orla's mother."

Demi smiled. "That's so neat that you all perform together. You must travel all over the place!"

"We do!" Tia replied. "It's so much fun. If you'd like, I could take you over to the penthouse to meet everyone else. Where are you from?"

That question made Demi unsure of what to say next. "I come from Whoville."

Tia's jaw dropped. "Really?"

Demi nodded. "Could you please not tell anyone else? I really don't want to cause a fuss, especially not to Horton. You can tell the other Bird Girls, but please, no one else."

The bird stayed silent for a few seconds, still shocked. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with us. But just one thing…how did you get here to Nool?"

"Umm…" Demi definitely didn't know how to answer this question. "I still have no idea on that. It's kind of complicated at the moment, but I know a creature with magical world traveling powers or something around those lines…"

Giggling, Tia smiled. "Seems like a wild ride! Well, I'm sure everyone will be delighted to meet you."

Gertrude nodded. "Let's eat and then we can all go back to the penthouse together."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Twenty minutes later they headed over to the penthouse. Walking through the entrance, Demi couldn't stop gasping. "Wow, this place looks just as big on the inside as it does on the outside!" Demi said, as she looked at all the elaborate paintings on the walls.

Soon, they passed another bird with an orange boa. She smiled warmly at Demi and Gertrude, after hugging Tia.

"Hi Zoe!" Gertrude said, waving to her friend.

"Hello Gertrude. Who is this you have with you? What's your name darlin'?"

"I'm Demi," Demi whispered, in awe of this bird's beauty.

"No need to be shy. We're pretty much like a family here."

"Tia was telling me about how you guys travel all over the place and perform. Do you have any shows coming up?" Demi asked Zoe.

Zoe nodded. "We have a show coming up in a few days, with a new song of Mayzie's as the highlight. It's going to be huge!"

"I thought I heard loud music coming from here last night. That wasn't a performance of yours?" Gertrude asked.

"Mayzie had another party last night." Sighing, Tia gestured across the large space, which was covered in streamers, cups and other remains from what seemed like an interesting night. "She had invited some guys from over the mountain, but then the word got out and everything went crazy. Please excuse the bombsight. We're still cleaning up; that's how insane it got."

"Do you need any help?"

Zoe shook her head. "No. You can just relax. The girl who really needs to be here is Mayzie herself."

"You mean Mayzie isn't here?" Gertrude's eyes grew wide with surprise. "Where is she?"

"If we knew, we wouldn't be dealing with this, would we?!" Zoe looked irritated, gripping her broom tightly.

Tia moved over to Demi. "We have a hunch that she's gone off to Fort Worth, with her new boyfriend she hooked up with last night. Who knows when she'll be back…?"

Demi's jaw dropped "Shouldn't she stay here and help you guys clean up, and get ready for your big performance?"

Another bird girl poked her head around the corner of one of the bedrooms, before answering Demi's question. "One thing you should know about Mayzie is that she's not very responsible. We're surprised she can even keep our performance schedule straight."

Tia smiled. "This is my sister Jessica. She's 18."

"But we have nothing really to worry about. Mayzie would never miss an opportunity to go out and perform," Jessica reassured them. "What brings you to Nool?"

"I come from Whoville."

"Really?" Jessica gasped, before Demi nodded softly.

Tia nodded. "I know! Isn't it amazing? But I promised Demi to not tell anyone else but us girls, so no blabbing this to anyone else. The same goes for the other girls. Okay?"

Zoe and Jessica nodded. "Wow, it's is so crazy, finding out about another world, thinking it wasn't real and then meeting one of their kind in the course of two weeks…" Jessica sighed. "I guess there is life on that dust speck after all."

"Ooh that dust speck." two other bird girls chorused.

Zoe smiled. "These two are Scarlet and Skye. Scarlet's daughter Orla shares a room at the end of the hall with Evie. I'm sure you'll meet them soon."

"It's so nice to meet all of you." Demi told the girls, before Scarlet came over to her.

"Pleasure's all ours." Scarlet smiled warmly.

Gertrude went back over to Demi. "I should probably go back to Horton's to see if your friend is okay. You should stay here; have some fun with the girls."

"But what about-"

"If she's worse, then I'll let you know straight away. If she wanted you to come here, she would have wanted you to have fun. I'm sure these girls can help with you with your acting dream" Gertrude hugged Demi, seeing she was worried. "Besides, her recovery will be quicker with lots of rest. Horton told us she'd be fine with him. You can come back to my place whenever you want to."

Nodding, Gertrude waved goodbye to the girls and left the penthouse, to when Zoe took her through their home. "Now that you've met me, do you think he'll be given less of hard time for talking to the clover?" Demi asked.

"Yes, hopefully with help from the two of you we'll be able to prove to the other jungle creatures that Whoville does in fact exist. I think between the nine of us we can work something out. In the meantime, how would you like to watch us rehearse?" Skye asked Demi, who was nearly jumping out of her skin with joy. The group smiled, as they headed to back of the house, to where all the performance magic happened.


	2. Kirsty Meets The Bird Girls

**Kirsty Meets The Bird Girls**

**An Actress's Dream Chapter 5**

Once Kirsty was in dry clothes and had drunk a cup of hot tea Gertrude took her back to the pent house.

"Why aren't we going to your house?"

Gertrude smiled. "Demi has been spending time hanging out with the Bird Girls this afternoon. They'll all be excited to meet you."

"I hope they're a lot nicer than those monkeys I met back there. They creeped me out a little."

"They're quite harmless once you get to know them. Hugo and Louie are really good friends of mine."

"This house sure is a lot bigger than yours Gertrude... it's two stories!"

"Mayzie lives here too. She's out of town right now but hopefully you'll meet her eventually."

"Where did she go?"

"To Fort Worth for a one night stand with someone she met at the party they had last night."

Kirsty's jaw dropped. "She went away with a boy she just met?"

"One you thing you should know about Mayzie is that she has devil may care attitude about things. She goes away on these short vacations a lot. She meets many interesting people along the way based on what the other girls have told me."

When Gertrude tapped on the door Jessica opened it.

"Who's this Gertrude?"

"This is Horton's friend Kirsty."

"Is she a Who too?"

Gertrude turned to Kirsty.

"I'm from another country...I'm living on Who for a little while with Mr. and Mrs. Mayor and JoJo. Kirsty whispered.

"Where are you from originally?"

"Australia."

"I thought I detected a bit of an accent. Come on in! We just finished showing Demi our recording studio and now we're having some lunch."

The rest of the Bird Girls and Demi were sitting around a large oak dining room table.

"Kirsty, I was so worried! Where were you?" Demi got up from the table and embraced her friend immediately.

"I got lost in the jungle. The Wickersham Brothers were talking to me for awhie... well actually there were two girl Wickershams too. They were kind of creeping me out."

Evie smiled. "Don't worry about them. They don't mean to be so mysterious. They're actually really fun to be around."

"Come join us. We're about to have some chili and baked beans." said Skye.

Gertrude and Kirsty took a seat at the table.

"Kirsty was just telling me she's from Australia." Jessica said.

"Australia! Wow, that's pretty interesting. What brings you to Nool?" Tia asked

"I'm living with Mr. and Mrs. Mayor and JoJo for awhile. I live at Horton's while I stay in the jungle."

"How on earth did you get all the way to Nool from Australia?" Zoe asked.

Demi and Kirsty exchanged a look. "Should I tell them?" she mouthed.

Demi shrugged. "Only if you feel comfortable."

Kirsty sighed deeply.

"Well, you know how Jojo gets in trouble a lot for thinking outlandish things?"

"Yes." Scarlet looked suspicious.

"Well I'm a thinker like he is. My thoughts take me on many interesting adventures.. including to Nool and Whoville.'

There was silence.

"So do you mean to tell us that you have magical powers?" Orla asked.

Kirsty nodded.

The bird girls were utterly shocked hearing what they had just heard.

Tia looked at Demi. "Did her powers transport you to Nool?"

Demi nodded.

"Wow, that is so neat!" Jessica said.

"Wait til Mayzie hears all about this!" Evie said.

"When is she coming back by the way?" Gertrude asked.

Scarlet shrugged. "We don't know. Soon we're hoping. We're supposed to go on tour in one month and we need to prepare!"

Demi smiled at Kirsty. Kirsty, their recording studio is so neat. They told me all about where they're going to go on their tour too."

"How long will you be gone on your tour?" Kirsty asked.

"4 months. We're leaving in June and coming back in the middle of October." Tia replied.

"What kind of places do you go to?"

"We go all around the world!" Skye said.

Kirsty's eyes grew wide. "Even Australia?"

Jessica nodded. "Yes, even Australia. Maybe you can show us around your hometown."

Kirsty grinned. "That would be so much fun."

Jessica looked at her new friend excitedly. "We're all working on a plan to prove to the other jungle creatures that the Whos really do exist! Hopefully you and Demi can help us. If we get other people to believe us we hope that the Whos and Jungle Creature can all live in Nool together."

Kirsty's eyes grew wide. "Really? That means they won't be living on the clover anymore!"

Zoe smiled. "That's exactly right. Horton's been going through such a terrible time. Everyone has been laughing at him because he talks to the clover."

Kirsty smiled. " That would be awesome! Do you think the Butter Battle will ever be over?"

"One can only hope." Tia said

Demi nodded. "I really miss my cousins. I want them to come home."

Kirsty looked around the table at the Bird Girls.

Demi looked around the table.

"Would it be an intrusion if we came on tour with you guys?"

Scarlet nodded. "Of course not. We'd love it if you came."

"Are you sure Mayzie won't mind?"

Orla smiled. "No, not at all. The seven of us are pretty much like family. We want to get to know you better so can become part of our group."

Zoe wrapped her arm around her. "You and Kirsty are considered members of our family now... even though you live in Whoville."

Demi smiled. "I'll have to check with my aunt and uncle. I'm sure they'd let me go but it's just right now I am the only family that they have. My cousins are still fighting in the Butter Battle."

Kirsty looked at her friend. "Do you think they'll be home soon?"

Demi shrugged. "I sure hope so. They sent us a letter during the holidays saying they'd be home after Christmas. It's March 20th. From what Mr. Mayor said at town meeting they're slowly transitioning the soldiers out of the war zone."


End file.
